Chapter 49: Apologies
The sun soon rose bright and high above the Black Pearl as it sailed across the sea. Alex yawned as he stepped out onto the deck. He saw Eilonwy petting Stitch while leaning against the mast, Iago was perched on the crossbeam munching into something he most likely stole from the pantry, Jack was at the wheel, Jim was staring out at the sea, but where was Ariel? There was no sign of the Mermaid Princess anywhere.
"Hmmm, that's odd…" Alex said to himself.
Alex saw Jim and decided to talk to him first. Alex slowly strode over to Jim and leaned against the rail next to him.
"Hey…" He greeted.
"Hey…" Jim greeted back silently.
"Listen um… I sort of wanted to apologize for the way I've acted…" Alex said, scratching his neck. "I've been a big jerk…"
A moment of silence swept over the two.
"It's cool…" Jim finally answered.
Alex sighed in relief and slumped against the railing.
"You know, we've been traveling together for some time now, yet we really don't know much about each other…" Alex realized. "How'd you meet Jack?"
Jim turned to face the Disney Warrior and sat on a nearby barrel.
"It was about maybe a year or so ago…" Jim said. "I had traveled a bit around the world, and I found myself in the unforgiving streets of Tortuga. A bunch of drunks attacked me and tried to mug me, but Jack happened to be nearby and lent me a hand. Afterwards he started to ask questions about this necklace I have…"
Jim then pulled his odd looking necklace out from his shirt. Alex scratched his chin as he eyed it.
"Interesting…" He commented.
"He then started asking about my father. I told him all I knew, and then he said that I should come with him on his ship, since I had no where to go, I agreed to it, and well… here I am…" Jim said, wrapping up his tale.
Alex cringed a bit at the word 'father' but shook it off.
"So, um… how'd ya get that necklace anyhow?" Alex asked.
"My dad gave it to me. I was young, and he was rarely home, always sailing off somewhere. He brought this back for me one day, right before he ran out on me and mom. He had gone off to join a bunch of pirates…" Jim sighed. "I never felt more alone and vulnerable than the day he left"
Alex clenched his fist and turned away a bit.
"Believe me; I know that feeling too well!" Alex said softly. "At least you had a mother, my mom died, and at her funeral, my dad left me there all alone. The police couldn't track dad down, and I was dumped at the town orphanage. Since there were no substitutes for real parents, I broke out and fended for myself for a couple of years until I turned 14 and wound up in this world."
Jim listened intently to Alex's story; he realized that he and Alex weren't so different.
"Wow, guess we have something in common…" Jim said.
"Yeah…" Alex agreed.
Alex then got off the railing and smiled.
"Well, thanks for talking with me" Alex said.
"No problem…" Jim replied quietly before walking away.
"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Jim thought to himself.
Alex stretched out and saw Jack step down from the wheel and towards Alex's direction. Alex sighed before approaching the half-drunk pirate.
"Hey Jack?" Alex asked. "I sort of wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting…"
Jack looked at the boy a bit before smiling.
"Ah! No worries mate. I understand. Searching for these stones, trying not to get killed, keeping your bonnie lass from getting scratched. Lot of work even for you."
"Uh…yeah…" Alex sheepishly grinned.
"Not exactly what happened to me, buuuut I'll just nod and say yes…" Alex thought to himself. "Oh by the way Jack, have you seen Ariel around? I feel awful yelling at her…"
"Nay. But I know how to help you deal with yer stress. Make ye smile a bit." Jack smiled.
Alex groaned and hunched a bit, his arms dangling at his sides.
"Why do I get the feeling I know where this conversation is going?" Alex asked sarcastically.
Jack then produced two bottles of Rum seemingly out of nowhere.
"Welcome to the Caribbean lad…" Jack said, holding out one of the bottles.
"Typical Jack…" Alex thought, rolling his eyes. "Uh, I'll pass; right now I gotta find Ariel…"
Alex then headed off to find Ariel before stopping.
"Hey Jack?" Alex called.
"Aye??" Jack called back.
"If I can't patch things up with Ariel… save me some of that Rum…" Alex requested.
"Standing by mate…" Jack replied.
Alex sighed and approached the door to the cabin; he opened it up and poked his head inside. He scanned the room quietly until he at last spotted her. Ariel was sitting on a chair, staring out a window and towards the sea.
Alex inhaled deeply and entered the room.
"Ariel?" Alex asked.
Ariel suddenly jumped in surprise and turned to face Alex, she then cringed a bit. Alex clenched his fists and dropped to his knees.
"Ariel…" He sighed. "I'm….I'm so sorry for what's happened to me. These Dragon Stones, they had a hold on me and my emotions, and I acted out of line and out of bounds, please… forgive me for how I've been…"
Ariel looked down at the groveling figure of the Disney Warrior and sighed.
"I thought so…" She replied. "Ever since you had them, you've been a totally different person…"
"I know…" Alex said. "I guess I just sort of…convinced myself nothing was wrong…"
"But something IS wrong! And I'm worried" Ariel said sadly.
"So am I, but now that I know what's wrong, I think I can keep going. Once I get all the stones and defeat these villains, I'm gonna lock those stones up somewhere, so they can never be used again…" Alex said. "So please Ariel, if you give me another chance, I know I can do this…"
Ariel bit her lip a bit, before finally smiling and pulling Alex into a warm embrace.
"Oh, you know I can't stay mad at you…" She smiled.
"Lucky for me…" Alex thought to himself.
Alex pulled away from Ariel and smiled his goofy smile. His smile then faded and he looked away.
"Though now, we have a problem… Shiva got rid of the map, and we have no clue where that last stone is!" Alex sighed.
Alex sighed again before taking a step forward, and tripping over a small chest on the ground.
"Oh Alex!" Ariel cried. "Are you alright?"
Alex peeled himself off the ground and rubbed his jaw.
"I'm fine…" He groaned. "But that's strange… I don't remember that chest being there 3 seconds ago…"
"Well… it didn't just magically appear…" Ariel shrugged.
Though Ariel was wrong, because thanks to Jadis' magic, it did. Alex examined the chest carefully, only to find it unlocked. He peered inside it and found nothing but sea charts and maps.
"Wow, never knew Jack had THIS many maps!" Alex commented as he dug thru them.
After glancing at all of them, one in particular caught his attention; it was an old, faded map which lead to an island Alex had never heard of before. But what grabbed his attention, was an image of the Dragon Stone on it.
"Ariel…this is it!!" Alex cried. "The map to the last Dragon Stone!"
Ariel was partially excited, but also worried.
"Alex, something about this doesn't feel right…" Ariel said. "How you just happened to find that in a chest that seemed to come out of nowhere, even though Shiva burned the map, doesn't that seem odd?"
Alex knew Ariel was right, and he felt the same way.
"Yeah… it is strange…" Alex agreed. "But like they say 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade'"
Alex then pulled Ariel into a soft hug, and then headed out to inform Jack of their new course, Ariel followed suit close behind.
"Alex is fine… he's back to his old self… But it just feels like everything just…fell into place…" Ariel thought to herself.
Meanwhile Jadis watched them from high above the crossbeams, smirking at her handy-work.
"All according to plan…" She smiled evilly.
